There have been a slew of stories about Klout and their opt-out policy (i.e., there wasn’t an easy way to do it) across the blogosphere in the last couple of weeks.
Since news broke of their inclusion of minors and the way they were setting up profiles based on public interaction from otherwise private social accounts, Klout has been coming under fire for their practices, especially when it came to allowing users to delete their information.
Well, it seems as if Klout has listened to the criticism – as of today, you now have the option to delete your account (see image above – right-click to expand). To do so, follow these steps:
- Go to Klout.com.
- Log-in with whatever social network you have connected.
- Go to Profile Settings.
- Select the Delete Account link (near the bottom of the screen).
- Follow the steps to confirm you wish to delete yourself from Klout.
- Make a note as to when you deleted, and then set a calendar date to check back on their recommended timescale.
That’s it. It should be pretty seamless to do, but there’s always help@klout.com if you have issues.
Klout’s come in for deserved criticism of some of their practices, so it’s good to see them “do the right thing” on this topic. It’s also a nice reminder that when working together, the collective voice of social media users can be heard and encourage companies to offer better solutions.
Which is always nice.
Update: And just to confirm, here’s the image of what you see now when you go to my Klout URL.
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Danny Brown is VP, Product Intelligence at Jugnoo, Inc., and an award-winning marketer and blogger. His blog is recognized as one of the leading marketing blogs in the world, and is featured in the AdAge Power 150, Hubspot's Hot 100 Marketing Blogs, SME's Top 10 Social Media Blogs 2011 list and Canada’s Top 50 Marketing Blogs. In 2010, it won the Hive Award for Best Social Media Blog at the South by South West festival. Danny is also the author of The Parables of Business.
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